Lord of the Flies

A book from 1954 that still rings true about society today. If you’ve ever wondered what would happen when society loses it’s boundaries, when people have the chance to create their own rules & regulations… this book is for you.

The Summary

A number of English school boys crash-land on a deserted island after an unfortunate plane crash. They start off strong, trying to elect a leader amongst them & divide tasks evenly. However, things go from bad to worse pretty quickly. There is a struggle for power, the boys are divided into groups, & they lose their unity as humans. They devolve into animals, willing to kill anyone & everyone to protect themselves. They also start to spot a “monster” on the island, but I’ll leave it a mystery to whether it’s real or not.

The Analysis

This book is haunting. I think it really shows what society is capable of. I think Lord of the Flies by William Golding deserves 9/10 severed pig heads. I think this book, even though its from the 50’s, still reigns true today. Just look at society now, there’s an immense struggle for power, humans typically benefit from the suffering of others, & the people in power are corrupt and abusive. I think we have been living out our own version of Lord of the Flies in every day life.

This book really makes you wonder what would actually happen if society just broke loose from it’s chains. What rules would we make of our own? Would we stick together or devolve into paranoia like the boys? We all like to think humans are good natured, but what do we really know about that? If you want to know one take on these questions, maybe answer them yourself, well this classic is something you don’t want to miss.

I’ll leave you with a quote that I think is pretty fitting,

“Civilisation does not suppress the barbarism; it perfects it” – Voltaire